Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats win key regional vote

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Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrat Union won a regional vote on Sunday ahead
of their main opposition rivals in a poll seen as a dress rehearsal of next
year’s general election.

The CDU’s national coalition partners, the Free Democrats, were wiped out in
the state poll in Saarland after a dramatic collapse in support, while the
rising anti-establishment Pirate Party earned 7.4 per cent of votes. The
state is set to be run by a grand coalition of the CDU and the Social
Democratic Party, seen as the most likely national election outcome.